GREENSBORO — As much as possible, the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season champion was overlooked entering the league tournament.

Blame it on a late-season slide or history, but Miami was against the odds when action began Thursday.

The Hurricanes turned that doubt into motivation for their first ACC Tournament championship Sunday afternoon with an 87-77 victory against North Carolina.

“We felt like people really didn’t think we could do great because we’ve been struggling at the end of the regular season,” said Miami’s Kenny Kadji. “We came out like an underdog.”

Miami (27-6) lost three of four after winning its first 13 games in the ACC. In eight previous seasons as an ACC member, the Hurricanes had never played in a tournament final and had advanced to the semifinal round once (in 2010).

Yet, for the cloud of doubt that had followed the team to Greensboro, it was a determined Miami team that withstood and answered the best shots North Carolina threw during Sunday’s matinee.

“You can’t expect to play in an ACC championship, in Greensboro, against Carolina and not get their best shot,” said sixth-year senior Julian Gamble, who’s from Durham. “We got their best shot (Sunday) and we were able to endure the punch.”

The game marked the culmination of a season in which coach Jim Larranaga’s program reached unprecedented levels of success.

For the title to come at the hands of North Carolina, making its record 32nd appearance in the tournament’s final game, also served as indicator for how much Miami achieved.

“When I got to Miami I asked the players who are the best teams in the league and they said Duke and North Carolina,” the second-year coach said. “So what we have tried to do is use them as a shining example of how things can be done.”

While Miami was tearing through the league in its first 13 games, point guard Shane Larkin saw how high expectations became for the team picked to finish fifth the league, according to preseason polls.

“People had a lot of respect for us … saying like, we could win the national title,” Larkin said. “(ESPN analysts) Digger Phelps, Jalen Rose on GameDay saying that, ‘Yeah, we could win the national championship.’ ”

But with losses at Wake Forest and Duke and a home loss against Georgia Tech in a 12-day period, Larkin saw a change in the perception of his team.

“I just feel like people lost their respect for us … we lose a couple games and it’s like we lost to terrible teams,” Larkin said. “After those games they were saying like, we have no chance and whatever. It’s their job, they have to do that.

Page 2 of 2 - “It just gave us motivation. I think everybody saw how they were talking about us. It gave us a lot of motivation to come into this tournament and do what we did.”

Larkin was great in two games prior to Sunday’s final, scoring 20 points against Boston College and 23 against North Carolina State. He took his game to an even more impressive level against North Carolina.

The sophomore scored a career-high 28 points on 8-for-15 shooting and had seven assists. He made all eight of his free throws and played all 40 minutes.

“The kid does things that I’ve rarely seen on the court. I’m his roommate, so I’ve had conversations with him about him being faster than Ty Lawson,” Gamble of Larkin, who was named tournament Most Valuable Player.

“He’s a sophomore. I mean, he’s still got growing to do. He’s going to become even better of a player and it’s kind of scary if you think about it, what people have to look forward to.”

Senior guard Trey McKinney Jones also established a career high with 20 points, draining six 3-pointers. He was the beneficiary on four of Larkin’s five first-half assists.